Urinary Blockage -- A scary thing that happens to cats

The Love of Pets
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So I have boy cats, and have sat for cats that had surgury for urinary blockage. Until today, I had no experience of this with my own clowder, but that changed quickly. Yesterday afternoon, I noticed our youngster (9 years old and healthy) was grouchier than usual towards the other cats and his belly hurt. I thought it might be constipation because this is a problem he has sometimes. I noticed as the day went on that he was probably in pain. When he only ate half his dinner, I decided a visit to the vet the next day would be needed. I noticed him straining to go and was worried. At one point he coughed up a hairball and some vomit, but then he seemed a little better. In the morning he didn’t have breakfast – extremely unusual for him – but I did notice some of “his” poops in the litter box and felt a little better, but when I called the vet, and he said, “What about urine?” My heart sank. With three, each has distinctive easily identifiable poop, but urine is just a clump. Come to think of it, I didn’t see any urine in his “preferred” litter box, but he does use the other boxes so what did it mean? In any case, the vet warned me that sometimes owners think it’s constipation when it’s actually something else. And when I brought him in, diagnosis was easy. The vet pushed on this bladder and nothing came out except a very small amount of blood.

Fortunately, the rest went as well as it could’ve. The vet was able to clear the blockage with a catheter, but he needs to stay overnight at the animal hospital to make sure that he doesn’t pull the catheter out and is okay. This was caught early enough that there is no kidney damage. It could happen again. It might not happen again. But I’ll have to watch him and make sure any future sitters are careful to watch him as well.

In addition to having an emergency plan, I always remind sitters that cats (and dogs) can go downhill really fast. In fact, the vet who drove me from his practice to the animal hospital (not normal procedure but he’s family and he wanted to make sure the cat didn’t get antsy and get the line twisted on the ride) was telling me about cases he’s seen, people bringing in their pets for little things, and then being told the animal has hours left and needs to be euthanized. So hosts: please be aware of small changes as well as big ones! SItters: be aware and don’t hesitate to text hosts if something seems different.

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Just responding to the emojis. Pudge the cat is doing really well. I’m going to start another thread for advice on water fountains. I had a cheap one once, and none of my cats were thrilled, but I’m thinking of giving it another go.

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Hi @Marion
Sorry to hear about Pudge. Pleased he’s on the mend. It’s the unfortunate side effect of pet ownership that the pets can develop something out of nowhere. Well done for your quick actions.
After sitting for a poor cat that kept fitting and needed expensive vet scans I always ask about the HO’s vet situation and confirm how to get there without my own car. Fortunately of the 23 cat sits with over 50 cats now I’ve only had the one unplanned vet visit so far and a planned one for a poorly cats chemo treatment.

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Apparently it’s because cats don’t drink a lot of water (so I’ve heard.) Some pet parents I’ve sat for mix water into the wet food to increase their water intake.

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In our case, Pudge eats wet food, and we do give him extra water in his food! It was a surprise to me that he had the blockage because I too had heard that it mostly happened to neutered males who eat dry food, but the vet was not surprised. He told me told me that they don’t always know what causes this, and it can just be based on the cat’s anatomy. BTW, Pudge will now be eating a special urinary health food for the rest of his life. Both my vet AND the vet at the emergency hospital mentioned stress as a factor. There were no recent changes in the routine, or issues in the dynamics between our cats that I’m aware of! Anyone with a cat or watching a cat, needs to be aware of the symptoms.

Despite all the ideas about cats being independent, they are very sensitive creatures. In our case, Pudge wasn’t hiding his discomfort, and the key to saving his life was not ignoring what I was observing or assumming I had the answers, but contactig the vet, and getting him seen.

Really, I’m posting this as a reminder to hosts and sitters, that emergencies happen, and this is why having a plan is essential. And that sometimes “emergencies” don’t look like emergencies. For sitters, it’s so important to contact the hosts if there is any sign of anything that seems off and discuss.

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